Rupan sansei: Gurîn vs Reddo (2008) (V)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Shigeyuki Miya

Writers:

Monkey Punch (creator)
Toshimichi Ohkawa (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 April 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Car | Store | Nakano Tokyo | Airport

Cast

Kanichi Kurita	...	Arsène Lupin III (voice)
Kiyoshi Kobayashi	...	Jigen Daisuke (voice)
Makio Inoue	...	Goemon Ishikawa XIII (voice)
Eiko Masuyama	...	Fujiko Mine (voice)
Gorô Naya	...	Inspector Zenigata (voice)
Jin Katagiri	...	Yasuo (voice)
Aya Hirano	...	Yukiko (voice)
Katsuhisa Hôki	...	Katayama Keiji (voice)
Nobuaki Fukuda	...	Kusakabe (voice)
Yu Shimaka	...	Keishisokan (voice)
Genmu Kiyokawa	...	Tencho (voice)
Mugihito	...	Beniya (voice)
Kenichi Ogata	...	Oyaji (voice)
Subaru Taguchi	...	Togishi (voice)
Josh Keller	...	Logan (voice)

Also Known As:

Lupin III: Green VS Red (International: English title)

Runtime:

Japan:80 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Japanese Sign Language | English

Color:

Color

Company:

Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS)

Movie Connections:

References Rupan sansei: Mamo karano chousen (1978)

Green vs. Red is an interesting anime.

This OVA celebrates the 40th anniversary of Lupin, and it includes a bunch of nods to previous Lupin anime. Pretty much every criminal on the planet has taken to disguising themselves as Lupin, and we end up seeing pretty much every Lupin character design used, even the pink jacket.

A new main character for this is a guy named Yasuo, named after Lupin's original voice actor, who looks just like Lupin and wears a green jacket.

Meanwhile, the real Lupin in the red jacket and his partner Jigen are doing their thing as always. They're on the run, all sorts of random wackiness happens to them, and there's a constant mob of fake Lupins causing them trouble.

Pretty much, a lot of this is somewhat somber slice-of-life stuff focusing on the Yasuo guy. This is decent stuff, though of course it's kind of odd for a Lupin story.

As for the story, well, it's pretty much just Yasuo competing with Lupin to try and become the "real" Lupin.

Fujiko is only in this briefly, although there are some interesting scenes where Yasuo sees her and it's animated like a psychedelic trip. Goemon pretty much has a cameo role, and Zenigata is great as always.

This is a pastiche, sort of an abstract, arty anime that pays some tribute to that laid back Lupin feel of old. The actual story however is pretty esoteric, and not entirely satisfying.

All in all, this is an interesting anime that is somewhat thought provoking and beautifully animated. While it's not a proper entry in the Lupin series, it's still well put together and worth a watch.